Friday, December 10, 2010

Dear George Clooney, Please Marry My Mom (2010) By Susin Nielsen

Plot Summary:  Violet is angry.  Since her parents' divorce, twelve year old Violet's mother keeps dating one loser after another.  Violet is sick of it, and she is tired of visiting her dad and his new wife and seeing their perfect lavish house, while she, her mom and her sister live like paupers.  Her parents got divorced when Violet's mom caught her dad cheating on her with one of the actresses he was directing. 

Now Dudley Weiner, her mom's latest guy, is in the picture and Violet is determined to get rid of him before they get serious.  She feels unwanted and unloved by her father, who lives in L.A. with his young blonde wife and their almost two year old twins.  Violet and her best friend Phoebe spy on Dudley to find out his secrets.   Deciding that she needs to protect her mom,  Violet gets an idea to write a letter to George Clooney to convince him to marry her mother.  While her adjusting to her family life without her dad is hard enough, Violet has to deal with a mean girl at school and her first crush.  This story about growing up and facing your fears is funny and sad, and despite Violet's bad behavior most of the time, you will be on her side. 


Subjects/Themes: divorce, stepfamilies, dating, single parents

Genre:  Realistic Fiction

Reviews:  Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, Booklist

Age Group:  Grades 5-8

High Interest Annotation:  This is a great story for tweens and teens who have had to deal with divorce and stepfamilies.

No comments:

Post a Comment